OnespotTM Allergy Blog is written by Elizabeth Goldenberg, Canada's best known Allergy Expert & Lawyer. She’s the founder of Onespot Allergy, the co-founder and co-owner of EpiCenter Medical known for its online anaphylaxis first aid course and Epi-Kits to hang epinephrine on the wall like a defibrillator, and mother to two sons, one of whom has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and tree nuts.

I was drawn to check out Ava Anderson Non-Toxic products when I came across a Facebook post stating that they’re non toxic and they now even have baby products. I appreciate a good personal care product line that’s free of harmful chemicals, but a persistent problem I’ve discovered is that such product lines often include food allergens, so I had to check these products out from an allergen perspective.

Many of the Ava Anderson products contain shea, which is a tree nut. Many products also contain sweet almond oil, which should not be rubbed on your skin if you’re allergic to tree nuts. More information regarding anaphylaxis from substances rubbed on the skin was released recently, which bolsters my position that if you’re allergic to a substance, you should not rub its oil on your skin or consume it any other way. In this product line, I also found a fair number of food ingredients that are less common allergens.

The lip balm product page contains this warning: There is one known health warning about shea butter: People who have nut allergies and latex allergies may be sensitive to shea butter. Always do a small test patch before fully using, if you have allergies. This is the only reference to allergies that I found on the site. I’m surprised that nothing was said about almond oil to warn nut allergic consumers that it’s present in the product line.

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One Response

I am researching the possibility of a class action law suit against the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Ava Anderson Non Toxic, one of the Campaigns GOLD STANDARD “Champions”.

The Campaign has represented their Champions as follows: “In order to get the gold standard status of Champion, companies had to fulfill all tenets of the Compact, which include:

• Comply with the European Union’s Cosmetics Directive, widely considered the current global gold standard of cosmetics safety regulation.”

The EU Cosmetic Directives require all cosmetics have pre-market approval. I don’t think many Champions can claim they comply with this, but yet that is what following these regulations means. It is not just about labeling ingredients.

Ava Anderson Non Toxic cosmetics fails to list all ingredients in INCI language AND fail to list the mandatory 26 allergens…also a requirement of the EU laws.

“• Disclose all ingredients, including ingredients in “fragrance,” which in the United States can be claimed as “trade secrets,” even when they contain hormone disruptors, carcinogens and other harmful chemicals.”

NONE of Ava Anderson Non Toxic perfumes list the ingredients in the fragrances, nor do they list the carrier oils, none of the ingredients are listed in INCI language, nor do they list any allergens as required.

Ava Anderson Non Toxic sells an illegal hand sanitizer and fails to warn customers that it actually is NOT more effective than the FDA approved alcohol products (and in fact customers have risked potentially lethal bacterial infections by using the Ava product instead of an FDA approved formula.)

Ava Anderson Non Toxic fails to recall their potentially hazardous baby products made with nut allergens and in factories containing nuts. These products could KILL a child and put every baby at risk for developing nut allergies. Diaper rash is temporary – nut allergies are forever. Their answer – read the label. But they don’t state on the label that their products are made in a factory with nuts…so the label gives parents a false sense of security. When you label your brand “nontoxic” there is a different level of transparency demanded – labeling allergens AND potential cross-contamination in products specifically designed for infants who are at a greater risk from developing lifelong allergies as a result of contact with these allergens.

Ava Anderson Non Toxic perfumes are advertised as “essential oil perfumes” but contain ingredients that do not exist as essential oils, the perfumes are not labeled with any legally required INCI ingredients listed, and are missing all allergen warnings as required by EU Cosmetics Directives.

Ava Anderson Non Toxic also violates the USDA NOP by claiming the products are organic and “made with organic ingredients” but none of the products are USDA Certified Organic according to USDA NOP requirements.

I am in the process of collecting the names of the Ava Anderson Non Toxic salespeoples websites and Facebook pages, because I believe they should be named in any law suit since they are knowingly selling illegal and misbranded cosmetics.